The government will call on councils and businesses to beef up plastic recycling capacity and better realise the financial value arising from the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste plastics discarded each year.

In a speech to be delivered at the headquarters of Recoup, a charity that promotes and supports plastic recycling initiatives, Defra minister Lord Taylor of Holbeach will argue that waste plastics represent one of the easiest and most cost-effective areas for the UK to meet its binding recycling targets.

Describing the continued disposal of plastic bottles and other plastic products to landfill as "shameful", Taylor will confirm that government figures show how last year around 240,000 tonnes of plastic bottles were sent to landfill by households with access to kerbside plastic recycling collection – equivalent to nearly half of all bottles used.

He will add that the plastic bottles sent to landfill would have been worth around £91m if they had been recycled.

Last month's budget set a new target for plastic recycling of 42 per cent by 2017, and Taylor will argue that the best way to meet the target will be to make "quick progress" on recycling plastic bottles.

"Over half a million tonnes of plastic are used each year to provide us with bottles for drinks, shampoo and kitchen cleaners, yet half of this ends up at the dump," he will say. "The vast majority of these bottles could easily be recycled, and this shocking waste is costing the economy millions of pounds. I want to see a major push to end this sorry state, with businesses, councils and householders all doing their bit to address the problem."

Defra is working with Recoup, the advisory committee on packaging and industry, to explore the possibility of a "responsibility deal" to help raise awareness among households and businesses on the steps they can take to help increase plastic bottle recycling.

A spokeswoman for Defra told BusinessGreen the talks were at an early stage and the department was considering a number of options, including a package of voluntary targets for the recycling industry similar to those adopted by supermarkets to tackle waste levels under the Courtauld Agreement.

The department also indicated that any deal could emulate the successful Metal Matters campaign, which increased recycling of drinks cans by 21 per cent through leafleting households in a selection of areas.

In addition, a number of councils are currently running trials looking at how recycling incentive schemes, such as those run by US firm RecycleBank, which provide households with reward points based on how much they recycle, can help drive up recycling rates. The government is supportive of the model and keen to see more trials rolled out.

However, the latest speculation about a new voluntary agreement on plastic recycling is unlikely to appease some recycling firms, which have criticised the government's waste strategy and accused ministers of failing to take a sufficiently robust legislative approach to improving recycling rates and driving investment in new recycling capacity.